Machine processes for compacting or positioning modules which are representative of semiconductor integrated circuits are well-known in the art. However, heretofore, such processes, typically known as compactors, have utilized a computer with a stored program to operate on modules which are rectangularly shaped and positioned in a rectilinear coordinate system, such as a Cartesian coordinate system, and with the edges of the modules parallel to the axis of the coordinate system. Heretofore, compaction of modules having edges that are not necessarily parallel to the axis of the rectilinear coordinate system, in which the modules are mapped, has not been done.